trillium

I’m amazed at the quantity and variety of wildflowers I’ve seen since moving to Western North Carolina ten years ago! It has become a game to see how many different kinds I can find . . . and remember. Because of the hundreds of wildflower species in our region, I’ll leave it up to you to acquire reference books and field guides, apps, and to search websites. To get you started, here are a few of the most common—and most interesting—wildflowers that I’ve seen that you’re likely to discover, too.

• Wood anemone (Anemone quinquefolia). The flower “petals” are sepals colored white or pink. Wood anemones and the rue anemones (Thalictrum thalictroides[= Anemonella thalictroides]) are very similar, differing in the shape of their leaves and positioning of blossoms on their stems. Rue anemones are sometimes called windflower, because they produce little nectar, but lots of wind-blown pollen.
Habitat: Rich humus soil; open woods and thickets

Wood Anemone

Spring perennials found in a wide range of elevations
• Fire pink (Silene virginica). This wildflower’s scarlet-red five-petal blossoms—atop slender stems with narrow opposite leave—“pink” refers to the notched petals—“pinked” at their tips. Fire pink is at home on harsh, dry, rocky slopes, although it will grow in well-drained, moist soils and partial shade. Pollinators and hummingbirds love it. Songbirds eat the seeds.
Habitat: Dry, rocky slopes

Summer perennials
• Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis). Like North Carolina’s state bird, the wildflower is named for its resemblance to Roman Catholic cardinals’ clothing. Growing 3-5 feet tall, with erect flower spikes atop each stem, cardinal flowers open from the bottom of the spike to the top.
Habitat: Banks of streams; moist meadows and thickets; full sun to part shade
Elevation: Low to mid-range

Fall perennials
• Crane-fly orchid (Tipularia discolor). When this orchid blooms in late summer, with tiny whitish-brown blossoms along a 15-inch stalk, it has no leaves—but its distinctive, low-growing leaves emerge in autumn and persist until spring. Somewhat crinkly looking, their upper side is dull to shiny green, the underside is purple.
Habitat: Rich forest soils along slopes and streams
Elevation: Low to mid-range

Unusual wildflowers
• Lady slipper (Cypripedium spp.). Discover this pink or yellow orchid, and you’ve found a jewel. The inch-long blossom looks like an inflated pouch or soft lady’s slipper. The pink lady slipper flowers on a stalk sitting above two large basal leaves. The yellow lady slipper has 3 to 5 leaves along the stalk. Their dust-like seeds require the right soil fungi to germinate. Never try to dig and transplant lady slippers! Enjoy them in their natural habitat.
Bloom time: April-June
Habitat: Dry to moist woods
Elevation: Low to mid-range

Lady Slipper

• Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum). You have to look carefully to see the flower that pops up at the node of one or two leaves, each divided into three leaflets. Look for the hooded pulpit and Jack (or Jill!) standing inside. That’s right, this wildflower can produce male or female flowers, depending on the amount of resources stored in its corm (underground stem). The pulpit can be green, brownish-purple, striped, or mottled. If the plant produces a female flower, red berries appear in late summer when both Jill—and the pulpit—are gone!
Bloom time: March-June
Habitat: Moist woods; along creeks
Elevation: Wide range

Learn more
NC State Extension Plants
Photographs and searchable lists of wildflowers by common and scientific names.
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/category/wildflowers/4/?category=wildflowers&s=common_name

North Carolina Native Plant Society
Photographs and searchable lists of wildflowers by common and scientific names.
https://ncwildflower.org/search/results/1c9da2083d71b05c3799f539f48d2a5c/

Wildflowers of the United States
References, photographs, and searchable lists by state.
https://uswildflowers.com/stateref.php?State=NC

Hike in the southern Appalachian Mountains, drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway, or visit the Botanical Gardens at Asheville, or the North Carolina Arboretum and you’ll find wildflowers in bloom virtually year-round. As we discussed in Wildflowers Part I, hundreds of species make their homes in our unique mountain environment.

Gray’s Lily

Where to look
Some wildflowers are quite common and cover a wide range of elevations, like the many species in the Aster family. Others are very rare and endangered, such as Gray’s lily (Lilium grayi) and Rugel’s ragwort (Rugelia nudicaulis). While some wildflowers cling to rocky outcroppings, others prefer the nutrient-rich forest floor or a wet bank by a stream.

What to look for
There are some very unusual looking wildflowers: stiff gentian (Gentianella quinquefolia), with blossoms like Christmas tree bulbs, bear corn (Conopholis americana) that resembles a corncob more than a flower, and Indian pipe (Monotropa uniflora) that is easily mistaken for a fungus

Bear Corn

Stiff GentianIndian Pipe

Within a single genus, such as Trillium, you may find different species with blossoms in an assortment of colors—white, yellow, red, and multi-colored!

Trillium

The variety is almost endless. The fun is in the discovery.

Identifying characteristics
Botanists’ nomenclature for every plant part and shape enables them to identify and categorize plants—but paying attention to a few basic characteristics will help identify many wildflowers.

Habitat. The process of elimination begins with observing the plant’s habitat. It’s unlikely you’ll find a pink turtlehead (Chelone lyonii), whose natural home is seeps and stream banks, on a dry, rocky slope! Assess habitat according to sun/shade, wet/dry, open area/woodland, and elevation.

Flower. Consider color, number of petals, and blossom shape—single bloom or cluster; upward spike or drooping panicle; flat or rounded. Flowers can grow on different parts of the stem. Is the flower at the top of the stalk, growing from a joint between the leaf and the stem, or at ground level?

Leaf pattern or arrangement. Wildflowers’ leaves are also important to their identification. Leaves may be basal (growing at the base of the stem next to the ground), opposite (growing in pairs on either side of the stem), alternate (alternating on either side of the stem), or whorled (more than two leaves growing in a circle around the stem). Some plants have both basal and stem leaves; others flower with no leaves at all!

Leaf shape and margins. Basic leaf shapes are linear (long and narrow), lanceolate (lance-like), oblong, elliptical, ovate (egg-like), and cordate (heart-shaped). The margins or edges of the leaf may be smooth, serrated/toothed, or lobed/scalloped. A compound leaf may appear to be multiple leaves, but is a single leaf composed of several leaflets.

Consult a reference
Now it’s time to match the characteristics you’ve observed with a high-quality wildflower reference. One of my favorites, Wildflowers of the Smokies, includes color photos, plant descriptions, bloom time, and typical location. Plant and wildflower identification apps are available for smart phones—even if you don’t have a reference app, phones are great for taking pictures of wildflowers to look up later. Make note of wildflowers you observe, the place, and the date. As you expand your knowledge of wildflowers, you’ll become more adept at finding and identifying them.

Conserving wildflowers
With the establishment of state and national parks and forests in the 1930s, public appreciation and conservation of native plants and wildflowers began to take hold. Appalachian forests clear-cut for logging are recovering with government protection and help from conservation groups, but threats remain from non-native plants, insects, and diseases!

When it came to gardens, my father showed no favorites. He tended his shade gardens with as much attention as he did his sun-filled gardens. Comparisons are odious, he liked to say! Why not see if there is a spot where you can tuck in a shade garden this summer?

Before you plantDetermine how much shade your garden gets, and if it is moist or dry. Is the shade dappled or deep? Is the area shady all day, or only in the morning or the afternoon? Remember not all shade comes from trees! Roof lines and nearby structures also create shade.

What to plantShade gardeners have plenty of choices, and they aren’t only green foliage. Plan a garden that incorporates native shade-loving plants with showy blooms to create a stunning garden from early spring through the first frost.

Perennials—the exoticsHostas (Hosta spp.) come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. Because there are so many to choose from, they are perfect for shade gardens. Their flowers provide stalks of color beginning in mid-summer that are beautiful in floral arrangements. Beware that these plants are a favorite deer snack.

Heuchera and hostas fill woodland garden

Hostas in a variety of colors and sizes

Hostas and ferns line path on steep slope

Astilbe (Astilbe x arendsii)—sometimes called false goatbeard or false spirea—have fern-like foliage and elegant plume-like flowers that create fountains of color ranging from white to pinks and reds. Astilbes do best in loamy, moist soil.

Of hellebores (Helleborus spp.), David Colle wrote in Fine Gardening magazine: “You simply have to love a plant that braves what nature throws at it and can still show off from February through May.” Often referred to as the Lenten Rose, these evergreen perennials can tolerate dry shade and require little attention. They are a favorite of aphids, though, so be sure they are well-spaced with plenty of air circulation.

In September and October, the long-blooming freckled blossoms of the toad lily (Tricyrtis spp.) appear, providing a spot of color until frost. “Some, such as Tricyrtis formosana, have their blooms clustered at the top of the stalk, like daylilies. Others, such as Tricyrtis ‘Lightning Strike’, have their flowers marching down an arched stem,” according to the Chicago Botanical Garden. These plants like moist soil rich in organic matter. Toad lilies are another plant that deer love.

Astilbe (Astilbe x arendsii)

Hellebore (Helleborus spp.)

Toad lily (Tricyrtis spp.)

Perennials—the nativesBe sure to purchase these native plants from trusted nurseries that do not collect them from the wild!

Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum biflorum), named for the Old Testament’s wise King Solomon, is lovely from spring through the fall. In April, look for creamy, bell-like flowers hanging from arching stems (1 to 6 feet tall). In the fall, the plants sport blueish-black fruits that are favorites of birds. Solomon’s seal grows moderately in clumps.

Miniature blue (sometimes lavender or white) crested iris (Iris cristata) put on a show in the spring. They are deer resistant and can thrive in partial to full shade.

Masses of trillium (Trillium spp.) bloom in the forest understory along the Blue Ridge Parkway in the spring. Known as the trinity flower, because of its three leaves, the flowers range in color from white and yellow to pink and burgundy.

Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum biflorum) with hosta

Crested iris (Iris cristata)

Trillium

FernsThey come in all sizes, shapes, and textures—from lush, tall Christmas and cinnamon ferns, to low-growing, gray-shaded Japanese ferns, and delicate maidenhair ferns. Many are native to our mountains, hardy and—in most cases—deer-resistant.

New York fern (Thelypteris noveboracensis) has fronds that grow up to two feet and makes a lovely addition to any woodland garden. It spreads easily in acidic, organic-rich soil.

Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris)—named for its fronds that resemble feathers—is a hardy, deciduous fern that produces “fiddleheads.” It prefers heavy, moist soil and plenty of shade, although it can tolerate some light.

Fossil evidence puts the royal fern family (Osmunda regalis) in the Triassic period. They like wet, rich soil and plenty of shade. Their feathery fronds often resemble flowers, hence its other name—flowering fern.

Maidenhair spleenwort’s (Asplenium trichomanes) name doesn’t do it justice. This petite evergreen fern (just 4 to 7 inches) favors moist, but well-drained rock crevices, making it perfect for rock gardens.

Japanese painted ferns (Athyrium nipponicum) really do look as if an artist’s brush decorated them in subtle tones of maroon, green, and silver gray. They are an excellent choice in shade gardens when you want to add a touch of low-growing color.

Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris)

Maindenhair spleenwort fern (Asplenium trichomanes)

Japanese painted fern (Athyrium nipponicum)

BulbsNaturalized daffodils(Narcissus) make for beautiful spring sightings in a forest understory. You can create the same effect in your shade garden using a variety of bulbs from very small to big and bold. Unlike tulips, hyacinths, and crocus, deer and rodents typically don’t eat daffodil bulbs because they are poisonous.

What hidden beauty does your shade possess? The possibilities are endless.